Orb Retired, to Stand at Claiborne in 2014

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Sooo he's retiring completely sound eh? Is that code for 'we can't figure out what's wrong with him based on our tests, and there's no way of knowing if we can fix it or how long that might take'? I get retiring if you don't want to risk finding yourself in summer 2014 with a horse whose issue has still not been determined. I'm guessing it's not bone or tendon related or they'd know.

It could be a bone or tendon injury. When there is a bone or tendon injury, some owners will make it public, but other won't. There have been plenty of cases where a horse was retired due to unsoundness or an injury and the owners announced that the horse was "retired sound".

With regard to Orb specifically, I have no idea. I would say that whatever it was, the connections were not particularly confident that the horse was going to be able regain his old form. I would say he is worth much more right now as a stallion than he would be in a year from now if he bombed as a racehorse next year.